Apothecary gardens of the Middle Ages and their further development (question No. 17).

The term “pharmaceutical garden” is narrow; it implies a garden or small vegetable garden for growing medicinal plants for a specific pharmacy. The first mention of apothecary gardens in Europe dates back to the Middle Ages. Monasteries at that time enjoyed universal fame and respect, and were, perhaps, the only place where they provided medical care, both monks and pilgrims, so it was simply impossible to do without temple medicinal gardens. The cultivation of medicinal plants became an important concern of medieval gardeners. The apothecary garden was usually located in the courtyards, next to the doctor’s house, the monastery hospital or almshouse.

In addition to the most common plants that have emetics, laxatives, bactericidal, etc. properties, a considerable part of the cultivated plants could be occupied by plants with psychotropic, intoxicating and narcotic effects (which were then accepted as manifestations of supernatural forces), since the mystical component of the healing process, that is, special rituals, was still of very great, if not dominant, importance.

The creation of medicinal gardens was also encouraged by Charlemagne (742-814). Evidence of how much attention was paid to gardens in the Middle Ages is the rescript of 812, by which Charlemagne ordered those plants that should be planted in his gardens. The rescript contained a list of about sixty names of medicinal and ornamental plants. This list was copied and then distributed to monasteries throughout Europe.

Among the monastery gardens, the St. Gallen (or St. Gallen) Garden in Switzerland was especially famous, where they grew medicinal plants and vegetable crops. The Monastery of St. Gall (St. Galen) was founded approximately in 613. The monastery library of medieval manuscripts has been preserved here, which numbers 160 thousand items and is considered one of the most complete in Europe. One of the most interesting exhibits is the “Plan of Saint Gall”, compiled in the beginning. 9th century and representing an idealized picture of a medieval monastery (this is the only architectural plan preserved from the early Middle Ages). Judging by this plan, there were: a monastery courtyard - a cloister, vegetable garden, a flower garden for church services, a garden of medicinal plants and Orchard, which was a symbol of paradise, and also included a monastery cemetery.

The library also preserved documents from which it follows that the monks not only bred medicinal plants themselves, but also collected them throughout Europe and even exchanged plants with the countries of the Islamic world, and also brought them from the Crusades. The monastery book depositories contained works of ancient authors and works of great scientists of the East, translated by monks into Latin, which contained invaluable information about the types and properties of plants. This is how the first collection gardens appeared. They had small sizes, and the plant collections in them were presented, placed in beds, with medicinal, poisonous, spicy plants used in medieval medicine, and some types of ornamental ones. It was these gardens that were the predecessors of the exhibition useful plants in modern botanical gardens. The small size, usually not exceeding several hundred square meters, made the planning structure of the botanical garden of that time relatively simple. So, for example, the apothecary garden in St. Galen, mentioned earlier, as can be judged from the surviving plan, consisted of 16 departments with various useful, ornamental and other plants. The plant displays in this garden were small rectangular areas with regular ridges.

Plan of the monastery of St. Gall.

1. The doctor's house. 2. Garden of medicinal plants. 3. Monastery courtyard - cloister. 4. Orchard and cemetery. 5. Vegetable garden.

Later herb gardens, established at university botanical gardens for educational purposes, were also designed as beds. Despite the fact that many new plants grew in such flower beds, and they were arranged in accordance with the new scientific principles, the beds themselves remained the same geometric shape and simple layout. For example, in the garden laid out by the Society of London Apothecaries in the 17th century, such beds exist to this day.

Since the 14th century. Monastery apothecary gardens are gradually turning into medical gardens, in the activities of which fundamentally new features can already be noted. Unlike medieval monastery gardens, medical gardens now have not only a narrow practical significance. They laid the foundation for work on the primary introduction of plants, collected local and foreign plants, described them and brought them into a certain system.

The formation of botanical gardens as scientific institutions dates back to the Renaissance. This was greatly facilitated by the widespread dissemination of scientific knowledge and, in particular, natural science at that time. The first scientific botanical gardens appeared in Italy at the very beginning of the 14th century. (garden in Salerno -1309), where, in comparison with other European countries, by that time the most favorable socio-historical preconditions had developed for the formation of new socio-economic relations, for the creation and further flourishing of a new humanistic culture and, in particular, the brilliant flourishing science and art. True, until the first half of the 18th century. plant displays in most medical botanical gardens remained few in number, differing little from medieval monastery gardens. They were located in the garden area in the form of separate groups of medicinal and some other plants, used mainly in medicine.

Starting from the 16th century, with the development of university life, the number of botanical gardens in Italy increased significantly: gardens appeared one after another in Padua (1545), Pisa (1547), Bologna (1567), etc. Somewhat later, in the 17th century, botanical gardens were created in other European countries: at Paris (1635) and Uppsala (Sweden) universities (1655), in Berlin (1646), Edinburgh (England) - the Royal botanical garden (1670), etc.

The rapid accumulation of plant material in botanical gardens required its scientific generalization and systematization. Linnaeus, the founder of plant taxonomy, came out with his “Plant System” in 1753 and developed the first harmonious artificial system plant classifications. Linnaeus divided plants into 24 classes, basing each of them on arbitrary characteristics, and thereby created new method systematization of the plant world. Linnaeus's plant system gave rise to numerous studies and aroused great interest in the description of plants. A few years after the publication of Linnaeus’ system, the number of studied and described plants reached 100 thousand. Since then, Linnaeus’ taxonomist and botanist have become almost identical concepts. The botanical garden of that time was like a living herbarium for taxonomy. Aesthetics took a back seat here. Botanical gardens as a kind of botanical laboratories at universities, demonstrating various systems plants became widespread in the 17th-18th centuries. Gradually, in the process historical development botanical gardens, they have a new function - educational and pedagogical.

The history of botanical gardens in Russia is closely connected with the origin and development of Russian botanical science. Already by the beginning of the 17th century. in our country there was a lot of information regarding practical use various plants both in the agricultural field and in medicine. Methods of using medicinal plants and descriptions of their medicinal properties were usually described in various “herbal books”, which were especially widespread in the second half of the 17th century. During the first half of the 18th century. in connection with the development of medical practice and the increasing need for production medicines The number of apothecary gardens in Russia is rapidly increasing. Along with the first botanical garden in our country opened in 1706 at Moscow University, other gardens were organized: in Lubny in 1709, in St. Petersburg (now the garden of the Botanical Institute named after V.L. Komarov) in 1714. In the decree Peter I on the establishment of the St. Petersburg apothecary garden says that the latter was created “for the multiplication of apothecary herbs and the collection of special herbs, which are the most necessary natural resources in medicine, and also for teaching doctors and pharmacists in botany.” Among the collections of plants in this apothecary garden we find: chamomile, sage, mint, mustard, thyme, juniper, peonies, lavender, various bulbous plants, roses, etc. The foundation of the botanical garden of the Academy of Sciences on Vasilievsky Island in St. Petersburg dates back to the same time, in the first third of the 18th century. Only very fragmentary information has been preserved about this garden, found in the archive materials.

From the second half of the 18th century. in Russia, along with state ones, numerous private botanical gardens began to be created. Collecting rare exotic plants became a fashion at that time, to which every more or less wealthy person paid tribute. From this passion for collecting plants arose many botanical gardens of that time, in particular the famous gardens of P. Demidov in Moscow, A. Razumovsky in Gorenki near Moscow, etc. Some of them collected large, even in our time, collections of introduced plants . Thus, in the botanical garden of A. Razumovsky in Gorenki, up to 12 thousand species and varieties of Russian flora were presented. The botanical garden of the industrialist P. Demidov was established in 1756 and included up to 5 thousand species and varieties of plants in its collections.

At the end of the 18th century. The first botanical parks appeared in Russia - arboretums, which were laid out entirely in landscape style in accordance with the artistic tastes of the time. Such dendrological parks, which occupy an intermediate position between the botanical garden itself and an ordinary park, include the famous parks - Trostyanetsky in the Chernigov region, Sochi arboretum and Sofievsky near Uman in Ukraine, which have survived to this day.

In the first half of the 19th century. newly built botanical gardens, both in Russia and abroad, were created mainly as educational gardens at universities. Subsequently, gradually, as botanical knowledge increases, the range of activities of botanical gardens expands more and more. So at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. rapid development of cities began, a large scale of industrial construction, the emergence of complex urban planning problems in connection with this - the redevelopment and landscaping of cities, the creation of a protective forest park belt around large settlements, etc. - all this set the world’s botanical gardens the task of determining the most rational assortment of plants and developing effective methods for landscaping cities and building parks.

Modern botanical gardens are actively involved in solving these problems; are selected and studied here ornamental plants, gardens are beginning to act as promoters of certain landscaping techniques and methods. In botanical gardens, more and more new exhibition areas are appearing - gardens individual crops, continuous flowering, exemplary corners of parks. At the same time, botanical gardens are increasingly promoting botanical knowledge and the study of living nature.

In the layout of botanical gardens, under the influence of the development of the free landscape direction, which has become widespread in the art of park planning, elements appear landscape style. Its artistic and aesthetic basis was the task of creating an idealized landscape. In connection with the new artistic tasks facing the art of park construction, the problems of studying the decorative properties of plants and their harmonious combination began to acquire more and more decisive importance. In botanical gardens, scientific gardeners analyze the artistic features and dendrological properties of various species, methods of their design, possible groupings of plantings in parks, etc. the most important conditions creating a landscape.

So gradually, in the process of their historical development, botanical gardens from apothecary gardens of the Middle Ages have turned into a complex organism in our time. It should be noted that changes in botanical gardens occurred primarily under the influence of the general development of botanical science and changing requirements for the scientific and botanical content of the work of a botanical garden. On the other hand, the changes were organically connected with the general development of landscape gardening art.

A modern botanical garden is a complex organism with an area of up to many tens and even hundreds of hectares, with the recreation in certain areas of the garden of entire geographical landscapes and botanical-historical exhibitions (rock gardens, Japanese, Italian gardens, etc.), which cannot do without landscape an architect who achieves artistic unity of all the diversity of elements that make up the botanical garden.

At the end of the 4th century. The brilliant era of antiquity with its sciences, art, and architecture ended its existence, giving way to a new era - feudalism. The period of time spanning a thousand years between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance in Italy is called the Middle Ages, or the Middle Ages. Change architectural styles does not significantly affect park construction, since during this period the art of gardening, which is the most vulnerable of all types of art and more than others requires a peaceful environment for its existence, suspends its development. It exists in the form of small gardens at monasteries and castles, that is, in areas relatively protected from destruction. The Middle Ages, which lasted almost a thousand years, did not leave exemplary gardens and did not create its own Gothic style of garden architecture. A gloomy, harsh religion left its mark on the life of the peoples of Western Europe and dulled the joy of perceiving the beauty expressed in gardens with beautiful flowers. Gardens first began to appear only in monasteries. The fundamental principle and model of all gardens, according to Christian ideas, is paradise, a garden planted by God, sinless, holy, abundant with everything that a person needs, with all types of trees, plants, and inhabited by animals living peacefully with each other. This original paradise is surrounded by a fence beyond which God banished Adam and Eve after their fall. Therefore, the main “significant” feature of the Garden of Eden is its enclosure. The next indispensable and most characteristic feature of paradise in the ideas of all times was the presence in it of everything that can bring joy not only to the eye, but also to hearing, smell, taste, touch - all human senses. The monastery garden - its layout and the plants in it, were endowed with allegorical symbolism. The garden, separated by walls from sin and the intervention of dark forces, became a symbol of the Garden of Eden. As a rule, monastery courtyards, enclosed in a rectangle of monastic buildings, were adjacent to the south side of the church. The monastery courtyard, usually square, was divided crosswise into four square parts by narrow paths. In the center, at the intersection of the paths, a well, a fountain, and a small pond were built for aquatic plants and watering the garden, washing or drinking water. The fountain was also a symbol - a symbol of purity of faith, inexhaustible grace or the “tree of life” - the tree of paradise - a small orange or apple tree, and a cross was also installed or a rose bush was planted. Often a small pond was built in the monastery garden where fish were bred for fasting days. This small garden in the courtyard of the monastery usually had small trees - fruit or ornamental trees and flowers. A small orchard inside the monastery courtyard was a symbol of paradise. It often included a monastery cemetery. According to their purpose, the gardens were divided into apothecary gardens with all kinds of herbs and medicinal plants, kitchen gardens with vegetable crops for the needs of the monastery and orchards. Monasteries at that time were perhaps the only place where medical care was provided to both monks and pilgrims. On small patches of land, sparingly illuminated by the sun due to high walls and roofs, only a few favorite plants were grown - roses, lilies, carnations, daisies, irises. Since there were few gardens in the Middle Ages, the plants grown were highly valued and strictly protected.

The labyrinth garden is a technique that was formed in monastery gardens and took a strong place in subsequent park construction. Initially, the labyrinth was a pattern, the design of which fit into a circle or hexagon and led to the center in complex ways. In the Middle Ages, the idea of labyrinths was used by the church. For repentant pilgrims, mosaic spiral winding paths were laid out on the floor of the temple, along which believers had to crawl on their knees from the entrance to the temple to the altar to atone for their sins. So, from performing a tedious ritual in the church, they moved on to cheerful walks in the gardens, where they moved a labyrinth, where the paths were separated by high walls of trimmed hedges. From such a labyrinth there was, as a rule, only one or two exits, which could not be so easily discovered . Occupying a small area, this labyrinth created the impression of an endless length of paths and made it possible to take long walks. Perhaps in such labyrinths the hatches of a secret underground passage were hidden. Subsequently, labyrinth gardens became widespread in regular and even landscape parks in Europe. Castle gardens or Feudal type of gardens. Gardens in castles had a special character. Feudal gardens unlike monastic ones, they were smaller in size, located inside castles and fortresses - they were small and closed. Flowers were grown here, there was a source - a well, sometimes a miniature pool or fountain, and almost always a bench in the form of a ledge covered with turf - a technique that later became widespread in parks. They arranged covered alleys of grapes, rose gardens, grew apple trees, as well as flowers planted in flower beds according to special designs. The castle gardens were usually under the special supervision of the mistress of the castle and served as a small oasis of calm among the noisy and dense crowd of castle inhabitants that filled its courtyards. They were also grown here medicinal herbs, and poisonous, herbs for decoration and had symbolic meaning. IN medieval gardens sat down decorative flowers and bushes, especially roses taken by the crusaders from the Middle East. Sometimes trees grew in the castle gardens - lindens and oaks. Near the defensive fortifications of the castle, “meadows of flowers” were set up for tournaments and social fun. It is at this time that such decorative elements, like flower beds, trellises, pergolas, fashion appears for potted plants. Spicy aromatic plants, flowers and exotic indoor plants were grown in pots, which came to Europe after crusades. At the castles of large feudal lords, more extensive gardens were created not only for utilitarian purposes, but also for recreation. Gardens of the late Middle Ages were equipped with various pavilions; hills from which one could look at the surrounding life outside the garden walls - both urban and rural. During this period, labyrinths, which were previously common only for patios monasteries. The paths of garden labyrinths are surrounded by walls or bushes. Judging by the frequent images gardening work, the gardens were carefully cultivated, the beds and flower beds were enclosed in stone protective walls, the gardens were surrounded either by wooden fences, on which images of heraldic symbols were sometimes painted with paints, or stone walls with luxurious gates.

1. Gardens of the Arabs in Spain.

In the history of architecture, the Middle Ages are divided into three periods: early medieval(IV-IX centuries), Romanesque(X-XII centuries), Gothic(late XII-XIV centuries). The change in architectural styles does not significantly affect park construction, since during this period the art of gardening, which is the most vulnerable of all types of art and more than others requires a peaceful environment for its existence, suspends its development. It exists in the form of small gardens at monasteries and castles, that is, in areas relatively protected from destruction.

Monastery gardens. Herbaceous medicinal and ornamental plants were grown in them. The layout was simple, geometric, with a pool and fountain in the center. Often two crosswise intersecting paths divided the garden into four parts; in the center of this intersection, in memory of martyrdom Christ, a cross was erected or a rose bush was planted.

Castle gardens arranged inside their territory. They were small and introverted. Flowers were grown here, there was a source - a well, sometimes a miniature pool and fountain, and almost always a bench in the form of a ledge covered with turf - a technique that became widespread in parks.

Garden labyrinth- a technique that was formed in the monastery gardens and took a strong place in subsequent park construction. Initially, the labyrinth was a pattern, the design of which fit into a circle or hexagon and led to the center in complex ways. IN early middle ages this drawing was laid out on the floor of the temple, and later transferred to the garden, where the paths were separated by the walls of a trimmed hedge. Subsequently, labyrinth gardens became widespread in regular and even landscape parks. In Russia, such a labyrinth was in the Summer Garden (not preserved), a regular part of Pavlovsk Park (restored) and Sokolniki Park, where its roads looked like intertwined ellipses inscribed in the spruce massif (lost).

The late Middle Ages are characterized by the opening of the first universities (Bologna, Paris, Oxford, Prague). Horticulture and botany have reached high level development, the first botanical gardens appeared (Aachen, Venice, etc.).

Arab gardens in Spain

In the 8th century Arabs (Moors) settled on the Iberian Peninsula and stayed here for almost seven centuries. Toledo became a major center of education, and Cordoba the most civilized city in Europe.

Borrowing the experience of Egypt and Rome in constructing irrigation structures, the Arabs were able to use the melting snow on the mountain peaks and created a powerful hydraulic system, turning waterless Spain into a flourishing land. A new type of garden was formed here - Spanish-Moorish. This is a small courtyard (200-1200 m2) of atrium-peristyle type (patio), surrounded by the walls of the house or fence, and is a continuation of the front and living quarters in the open air.

A complex of such miniature patio, included in the complex structure of the palace, are the gardens of Grenada, created in the 13th century. in the residences of the caliphs - Alhambra (650X200 m) and Generalife (area 80X 100 m).

In the Alhambra, the palace premises were grouped around the Court of Myrtle and the Court of Lions. The myrtle courtyard (47X 33 m) is surrounded by walls of buildings with an elegant arcade, richly decorated with ornaments. In the center there is a pool (7X45 m), elongated along the long axis and framed by rows of clipped myrtle. The main effect is the reflection of the arcade of the tower in the water of the pool. The Court of the Lions (28 X 19 m) is also surrounded by walls and an arcade, crossed by two mutually perpendicular channels, in the center of which there is a fountain of two alabaster vases supported by 12 black marble lions.

There is also the Queen's Courtyard, decorated with a fountain, 4 cypress trees in the corners, and most importantly - a complex covering ornament, into the design of which both the pool and the cypress planting sites are woven.

The Generalif Ensemble is the summer residence of the caliphs, located 100 m above the Alhambra. It is a complex of isolated patio gardens on terraces. The most famous is the courtyard with the canal. It is elongated and surrounded by an arcade; in the center there is a narrow 40-meter canal, decorated with two rows of fountains. Their thin streams form an arched alley. The garden is freely planted with small trees and shrubs.

In general, the traditions of the Spanish-Moorish garden are characterized by the following features: simplicity of planning and individuality of the solution. The layout is regular, determined by the geometric plan of the patio. The garden has a compositional center, most often a swimming pool. The entrance to the garden is often placed not in the center, but on the side, thereby breaking symmetry and enriching the overall picture of the garden.

The connection between the indoor and outdoor spaces of the garden appearance is achieved by arranging viewpoints decorated with arcades. This method of interconnection was subsequently widely developed in landscape art.

Water is the main motif of the garden. It is present in every patio in the form of channels, pools, and springs gushing out of the ground. The water either flows down channels made in the railings of the stairs, then permeates the plane of the garden in a narrow strip, then spreads out like a vast mirror (Myrtle Courtyard), then forms fountain streams. In all its diversity there is a desire to show the value of every drop.

Vegetation is used in such a way as to demonstrate the individual merits of each specimen. Cypress trees, orange and tangerine trees, jasmine, almonds, oleander, and roses were planted freely. Haircuts were rarely used as an architectural element.

Hot climate did not allow the use of a lawn, so most of the territory was decorated with decorative paving.

IN color scheme Characterized by a combination of an overall restrained color scheme of walls, greenery of trees and shrubs with bright splashes of beautifully flowering plants or colored coverings. Decorative paving is one of the important elements Spanish-Moorish garden. Sometimes retaining walls and garden benches were lined with colored majolica. Primary colors are blue, yellow, green.

Thus, the Spanish-Moorish style was formed with a set of its own techniques that corresponded to the requirements of time, nature, and national traditions.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, for many centuries, the dominant role in European society began to be played by the church instead of secular culture. Monasteries became centers of education: there were libraries, hospitals, schools; At the monasteries, small gardens were laid out for household needs.

The Roman tradition of public parks for citizens was forgotten. The monks who worked in the garden were primarily guided not by aesthetic considerations, but by practical benefits. Spicy herbs, vegetables and fruits were grown in the monastery gardens - in fact, these were vegetable gardens that supplied the monastery with food. Usually vegetable gardens were located outside the monastery fence. There were also apothecary gardens - medicinal plants were grown there, they were set up near a hospital or almshouse at the monastery. In many cases, given the low level of development of medicine in those years, healing properties plants were defined by the symbolic meaning ascribed to them rather than by medical practice. Plants that produced bright dyes (some of them were even poisonous) were also cultivated there: before the invention of printing, books were written by hand by learned monks, and natural dyes were needed to design footers, illustrations, and capital letters in manuscripts.

But at the same time, the fundamental principle of the very idea of a garden has never been forgotten - this is Eden, the Garden of Eden created by God, beautiful, full of plants, birds and animals, abundant in everything that man needed. After the Fall, Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. Therefore, any attempt by man to build a garden on earth was interpreted as a kind of “return to Eden,” an attempt by man to realize paradise on earth. Thus, the orchard was interpreted as a symbol of heaven and was supposed to remind the monastic brethren of Christian virtues.

Narrow paths crosswise divided the garden into four parts - this detail, of course, had a symbolic meaning. At the crossroads in the center there was a well, a reservoir, and perhaps a fountain for drinking water and watering plants. The source of water had the meaning of a symbol of the purity of the Christian faith. Ornamental plants grew there and fruit trees, and, of course, flowers. If there was room in the garden for a pond, fish were bred there for fasting. Brought to Europe during the Crusades exotic plants, especially roses, have gained great popularity. The Madonna was often identified with the rose, and the lily was also a symbol of the Mother of God. Each plant in the garden had a symbolic meaning.

All monastic orders, even mendicants, like the Franciscans, who for a long time The charter prohibited the ownership of land, except for a small vegetable garden; orchards were cultivated. Many monasteries became famous and are still remembered precisely for their gardens and vegetable gardens.

Kings and nobility in the Middle Ages also paid considerable attention to gardening: Charlemagne’s decree concerning the flowers that needed to be planted in his gardens has been preserved; the list included about six dozen names. The lords arranged gardens at their castles; caring for the garden was one of the main responsibilities of the mistress of the castle. Behind the fence, next to the defensive walls, “meadows of flowers” were arranged for knightly tournaments and entertainment for the nobility.

In those years, castle gardens were arranged according to the same principles as monastery gardens. The cultivation of herbs was of great importance: firstly, it was one of the few ways to diversify medieval cuisine, which was rather meager even in rich houses, and secondly, spicy aromatic plants emitted a pleasant smell. The Gardens of Eden, recreated by man on earth, provided food for all five senses. Trees - apple trees, plums, apricots, cherries nourished the taste. Flowers delighted the eye, spices delighted the sense of smell, and the birds that lived in the gardens enchanted the ears with their singing. We can proudly admit that the glorious medieval tradition of gardening continues today in every Russian summer cottage.

The story of my love for gardens and parks began in childhood. My sister really loved collecting wildflowers, and I liked digging in the ground with my grandmother, creating cute flower beds, decorating paths, planting bushes and trees. And in a couple of years, sit on a bench in this garden and admire the creation of your own hands.

When I was fifteen, I went with my mother on an excursion to Hampton Court. Hampton Court is a former country residence of English kings, located on the banks of the Thames in the London suburb of Richmond upon Thames.

The palace was founded in 1514 by the all-powerful Cardinal Wolsey, who donated it to Henry VIII. If Volsi was inspired by the layout of Italian palazzos of the Renaissance, the king introduced elements of gloomy medieval architecture into the architecture, and also built a large tennis hall (it is called the oldest tennis court in the world).

Over the next century and a half, Hampton Court remained the main country residence of all English monarchs. King William III considered the palace not to meet modern tastes and invited Christopher Wren to renovate it in the then fashionable Baroque style. A regular French park in front of the palace was laid out for William III on the model of the Dutch Het Loo; its curious feature is a labyrinth covering an area of 60 acres.

The day I saw the famous labyrinth, I realized that this was love for life. Clear lines of plantings stretched into the distance and merged into one green canvas, which made it scary and curious at the same time. I wanted to walk along every corridor, look around every corner, explore all the dead ends... but, alas, time did not allow. Then I got excited about the idea of creating my own labyrinth.

But before I got anything done, I managed to visit several more famous gardens with labyrinths: the St. Gallen Monastery Garden in Switzerland and the Dutch Het Loo.

At all times, gardens at monasteries were distinguished by their simplicity and privacy. It is these qualities that must be taken into account when creating a garden in a monastic style, which is completely uncharacteristic of luxury, solemnity, and theatricality. A small amount of symmetrically placed arches and pergolas in different corners will emphasize the overall composition winter garden, the utilitarian character of which will be given by a small area with fruit trees planted in tubs, containers with flowers, and medicinal herbs.

The layout was simple, geometric, sometimes with a pool and fountain in the center. Often two crosswise intersecting paths divided the garden into four parts; in the center of this intersection, in memory of the martyrdom of Christ, a cross was erected or a rose bush was planted. Some monastery gardens were decorated with trellis arbors and low walls to separate one area from another.

The labyrinth garden is a technique that was formed precisely in the monastery gardens and took a strong place in subsequent park construction.

In Russia, such a labyrinth was in the Summer Garden (not preserved), a regular part of Pavlovsk Park (restored) and Sokolniki Park, where its roads looked like intertwined ellipses inscribed in the spruce massif (lost).

The St. Gallen monastery garden forever sank into my soul with a feeling of calm and immense silence; after an hour’s walk through it, my head cleared and my thoughts flowed smoothly and slowly, without fuss.

But the vastness and geometric clarity of the lines, with the bizarre transitions from one part of the garden to another in Het Loo, made the heart beat faster and I wanted to catch a glimpse of everything.

The park of the royal palace Het Loo is one of the most famous and beautiful in the Netherlands. The palace itself was built more than 300 years ago near the town of Apeldoorn, in the very center of the Netherlands. In 1984, the former royal residence was restored and opened to the general public. The palace gives an idea of how the royal family lived there for three centuries, in which there is also a Russian trace (the daughter of Paul I - Anna, the wife of Willem II). And the garden represents 17th century landscape architecture. With its fountains and parterres, without Peterhof pomp, but so reminiscent of it, framed by evergreen boxwood and thuja. A very elegant, human-sized garden, which distinguishes it from other European gardens.

My garden is clearly smaller in size than the parks of the Middle Ages, but still does not cease to train the imagination.

Not everything worked out right away, of course, but the path to the goal is never easy. You have to repeat what you’ve done more than once, throw everything away and start over... it looks like a labyrinth, doesn’t it?

The labyrinth appeared as a garden decoration at the end of the 14th century. It was believed that “walking” improved mental health. The occupation was considered both deeply Christian and respectable: labyrinths in Europe became mandatory element country estate park.

The Russian estates of Kuskovo, Ostankino, Arkhangelskoye, Peterhof and others had a graphically clear layout of alleys, the walls of which were made up of trimmed bushes. Performed cleanly at first decorative function, labyrinths in gardens in the form of hedges gradually became more and more complex in compositional terms, and then the fashion, like a fickle lady, for labyrinths passed again.

But today labyrinths are gaining popularity again. The real labyrinth boom began in the 80s of the last century. Mirrors and wooden partitions, brick, plastic panels, walls of falling water made the labyrinth the subject of a stylish designer design.

It is interesting that people resort to the symbol of the labyrinth during times of stress. Thus, the labyrinth in Knoxville (USA) became a place of spontaneous gathering of people after the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001: after hearing the terrible news, people wandered along the spiral paths, trying to drown out their fears and cope with emotions. Similar crowds of people around labyrinths were then observed throughout the country.

Today, labyrinths, becoming more and more complex, are created on the basis of mathematical models and theories. Set up in parks and on tourist routes, they offer exciting intellectual entertainment, a test of intelligence and luck. Only one of the most respected garden designers working in this direction, Adrian Fischer, has built several hundred labyrinths around the world.

For example, at the 2008 Olympics in China, as part of the cultural program of this event, Fischer built a labyrinth with a total length of 8 kilometers, breaking Guinness Book records. Fischer and his colleagues enriched the park labyrinth with new planning solutions, unconventional materials, and other original details.

So, through trial and error, my own labyrinth garden was created. If you know where to start and where to get it, then it is quite possible and not so difficult.

First, you should choose the size and shape of the future labyrinth, depending on the capabilities of your garden: from 2-3 to 20 meters in diameter. In private estates and on garden plots There is always a desire to do something unconventional, interesting, useful for the development of children and the entertainment of adults. For this it is good to use live green hedge, fortunately, that on modern market planting material you can find plants for every taste, for any height of the border or wall of our labyrinth.

For the little one, children's labyrinth You can use row plantings of annuals such as curly parsley or marigolds, pebbles, and flower pots. For something more serious and larger - a hedge of bushes.

It is important that the hedge that makes up the walls of the labyrinth must be formable, that is, the plants must tolerate cutting and pruning in order to maintain a certain shape. Trimming allows you to vary the required size of the hedge. Suitable for such a hedge are: low-growing spirea, holly mahonia, St. John's wort, boxwood, alpine currant, and shrubby cinquefoil.

If you want to create a large labyrinth for adults, you can choose trees up to 3 meters high: steppe cherry, Cossack juniper, rose hips, common lilac, cotoneaster, Tatarian maple, common spruce, forest and Tatar honeysuckle, western thuja, Thunberg barberry, alpine currant, white dogwood, common hornbeam, mock orange (jasmine), mahonia, boxwood, Van Gutta spirea, hawthorn, yew, low almond (steppe), middle forsythia, serviceberry.

For the alleys of a regular garden with a graphically clear form, trees over 3 meters high are suitable: beech, bird cherry, maple, heart-shaped and small-leaved linden, oriental thuja, some types of cherry, yew, common hornbeam, occidental thuja, tamarix, spruce.

You can choose shrubs in such a way that the flowering period of some will replace others. And your labyrinth will always look like an elegant and tidy flowerbed on the lawn. You can combine several ways to create a labyrinth - using plants - both coniferous and deciduous; shrubs and vines; arches, pergolas, trellises; add mirrors.

The shape of the labyrinth can be not only traditionally round, but also square, and triangular, and in the form of a teapot, and in the form of a capital letter of the name of the garden owners. You can make a very simple labyrinth - an entrance, two turns and an exit, or you can make a simple one, but with one entrance. It can be made through, without a clearly marked center, or with a center in the form of a fountain, gazebo, patio, belvedere, pond, bathhouse.

The Internet, your imagination, family brainstorming - and endless green and flowering corridors will not only please the eye, but also soothe the heart and entertain guests. For example, in my labyrinth I organize competitions for children - who can go all the “checkpoints” the fastest. And, of course, it’s worth visiting a medieval or modern labyrinth at least once. Even if you don’t decide to create even a small labyrinth in your dacha, you will at least feel the calm and grandeur, danger and harmony of these bizarre and mathematically complex drawings.

Especially for the site Olga Shain